The Reluctant Warrior by Mary Connealy – Book Review, Preview

I was excited to have my wait for The Reluctant Warrior come to an end. When I finished The Accidental Guardian I knew I wanted to read the rest of this series. Fortunately, the wait between stories was not too long.

Synopsis:

Union army officer Cameron Scott is used to being obeyed, but nothing about this journey to Lake Tahoe has gone as expected. He's come to fetch his daughter and nephew, and seek revenge on the people who killed his brother. Instead he finds himself trapped by a blizzard with two children who are terrified of him and stubborn but beautiful Gwen Harkness, who he worries may be trying to keep the children.

When danger descends on the cabin where they're huddled, Cam is hurt trying to protect everyone and now finds Gwen caring for him too. He soon realizes why the kids love her so much and wonders if it might be best for him to move on without them. When she sees his broken heart, Gwen decides to help him win back their affection--and in the process he might just win her heart as well.

I would like to thank Bethany House Publishers, Netgalley for giving me this copy of the book. This gift did not influence my opinion or review.

The saga of the Sierras continues with all my favorite characters from The Accidental Guardian. Battling not only the blizzard that cocooned the cabin and bunkhouse but also the man who attempted to burn them alive and the woman who turned his children against him, Cam realizes that he needs to change and he can’t do it by himself.

I liked Cam and thought it was amazing that he loved his daughter enough to be willing to humble himself for her sake. With his gruff manner and the way he barked orders at everyone as he had been accustomed and even expected to do in the army, the children were terrified of him. He had to learn to be gentle and Gwen was the perfect person to teach him.

As the children needed to learn to trust Cam, he and Gwen needed to learn to trust in the Lord and in His strength. I loved that the message to not be afraid was not because God will rescue us from any type of harm but that we can trust Him to keep our souls safe no matter what happens and that we have eternal security in Him.

A new plot twist surfaces as new antagonists make cameo appearances. It appears they will be playing a much larger role in The Unexpected Champion, (which releases in March and is available for pre-order now), I won’t give you too many details, but suffice it to say that Cam’s sister Penny will get her own story.

This series is designed with each book containing information that will be referenced in the following stories. Though the story comes to a satisfying conclusion, there are cliff-hangers to set things up for the next one.

Preview

About Mary Connealy

Mary Connealy writes “romantic comedies with cowboys” and is celebrated for her fun, zany, action-packed style. She has more than half a million books in print. She is the author of the popular series Wild at Heart, Kincaid Brides, Trouble in Texas, Lassoed in Texas, Sophie’s Daughters, and many other books. Mary lives on a ranch in eastern Nebraska with her very own romantic cowboy hero.